A UNION has accused Cardiff council of massively over-estimating the cost benefits of axing a service that helps vulnerable people claim benefits.

Senior social workers have also raised concerns about the local authority’s plan to scrap its Welfare Rights Unit.

The four-person team helps people with a variety of difficulties, including mental health problems, complete often complex benefits application forms and represents people refused benefits at hearings.

Ken Daniels, branch secretary of the GMB union in Cardiff, said that the saving of £141,000 a year quoted in council papers is actually closer to £23,000 a year, a figure the council disputed.

He said he believes that the city’s Liberal Democrat and Plaid executive is now refusing to back down to save face.

He said: “The GMB belief is that it seems, to us, that saving face is more important than saving a service to the most vulnerable in the city of Cardiff.”

Mr Daniels has sent councillors e-mails of support received from social workers after the Echo reported the plans to close the unit last month.

In one message, Eva Rees, a senior lecturer at Uwic’s school of health sciences who was a Cardiff social worker for 17 years, said she was “horrified”. She said that all social workers had been expected to undertake welfare benefits work with service users until a series of high-profile legal cases revealed the wrong advice had been given in some cases.

She said: “It was decided that welfare rights advice was best given by experts. Therefore, your service was strengthened and proved invaluable to many of my sick and disabled service users who were generally underclaiming what was rightfully their entitlement to welfare benefits.”

Elaine Morgan, a senior social worker at the Cardiff Royal Infirmary who works with stroke victims, wrote to say she had expressed her concern to her managers.

She said: “I have grave concerns as to how this particular group of people will manage in the future when the Welfare Rights Unit is no longer in existence.”

A council spokeswoman said the authority did not agree with the GMB’s figures and the proposal would save £108,000.

She said the same work would be done by a larger team, helping a larger number of people and that all officers involved in the work would be properly trained.

Councillor Judith Woodman, the city’s deputy leader, said: “I am committed to ensuring that public access to welfare benefit advice is secured for the future and to achieve this I believe the best way forward is to mainstream the function into a larger unit, providing a broader based service which will reach more clients.

“I hope the GMB will now work with us to ensure a smooth transition to the new welfare benefit take up service.”